Bali, Indonesia

Welcome to Bali, one of the most beautiful places on earth. I know that there has been a lot of hype about Bali from a certain unnamed book turned Hollywood Movie, but I want to share our experience with you.  

Our Bali Experience, Exibit A.

Don’t worry just a case of pretendonitisJ

Ok it was a little more than that, Ben got a nasty Parasitic Amoeba…the Balinese gift that keeps giving….I realize that some of you who may have studied microbiology are thinking, “that sounds made up”, well we thought so too. I thought something either had to be an Amoeba or a Parasite, not both, but that is what the Doctors in Bali and Singapore told us…yes we had to visit both for about a month after our return. I still think it was “lost in translation”.  Even if the name isn’t real, our symptoms were. Although Ben had it a LOT worse than I did.

Exibit B. This is a picture of a fountain from one of the many Balinese Hindu temples, but adequately demonstrates the symptoms of Ben for nearly one month straight. I had similar symptoms, but not nearly as bad and not nearly as long. Ok enough with that, sorry mom, back to our trip.

 I could photograph these tranquil, mesmerizing rice terraces all day. It amazes me how much work goes into producing a simple bowl of steamed rice.

If it were up to me we would have spent far more time at the remarkable temples in Bali. I am fascinated by the customs, rituals, practices and symbolism in almost every religion, but the most incredible thing to me is how similar the core beliefs can be.

This is “holy water” where people come to bath and become cleansed.

Here dozens of local women are crafting Batik cloth by intricately painting stretched cloth with a molted hot, gold wax. Each piece of fabric is then dyed in rich colors and sewn into sarongs.

On the right, is a woman weaving world renowned Ikat fabric, which is produced like no other in the world due to the intricate method of dying and weaving-it is incredible. Thanks to my interior design mother I knew to look out for these beautiful textiles.

In attempt to get away from the “touristy” side of Bali we asked our driver to take us to his village, a trick that is sure to lead to a more memorable and adventurous, vacation.  Our plan worked, as we drove into the small village we noticed a long procession of people who were gathered together for a cremation. They literally took the wrapped bodies, placed them on an alter and burned them in front of the deceased friends and family. It wasn’t a time of tears and mourning, but was a joyous occasion.  The Hindu Balinese believe that their people must be cremated in order to ascend to heaven. “the deceased have been waiting for this time, so they are happy for them”.

After Ben humored me by visiting a few temples, I promised him we would go fishing. The big fish weren’t biting, but the dolphins definitely were. At one point I felt a huge fish grab onto my line, and then with a huge jerk, it was gone. When I reeled in, there was half a fish head that had been eaten by a dolphin. Our guides thought Ben and I were hilarious the way we were acting when we say the dolphins. For some reason, I always felt like dolphins shouldn’t be real-I know it’s ridiculous.

The architecture in Bali is completely different from anywhere in Asia as it contains a blend of religious Hindu sculptures, intricate Indonesian carvings, British columns and details, and finished with a tranquil and exotic island feel.  Many temples, shops and even homes contain many of these diverse design elements.

 

These houses, for example has ornately carved wood-similar to what you may find throughout Indonesia, with Hindu statues in front- to protect the house, and woven grass roof.

We were able to visit one of the many spice gardens located on the top of a beautiful rice terrace. We saw cocoa pods, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla beans, coffee, frangipani, black pepper, mace, cardamom, clove, star anise, cashews, mangos, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit etc.

For the first part of our trip Ben and I stayed in Southern Bali near the beach and then met up with our ward for the second annual Singapore 1^st Ward Girls Camp, more on that later. We stayed in an incredible camp, Green School which is an eco friendly school that teaches children from around the world in a state of the art, school. The architecture and design of the school was incredible, check it out. http://www.greenschool.org/gallery/

Our activities included biking through the villages, hiking in the rice terraces, making chocolate from local cocoa pods, swimming in a mud pit, and whitewater rafting.  Sorry I have to compile my other pictures, but will post later.

One of the highlights was visiting a local children’s school. We taught the children English songs and in return they sang and performed a ceremonious Balinese dance.

The food prepared by the Green School chef was incredible organic, fresh Indonesian dishes. The produce was so fresh because the school property houses many gardens so that they can grow their own food. I became good friends with the chef and even exchanged a few recipes, I taught her to make fresh tortillas and she taught me to make Satay, Nasi Goreng and a few other dishes which I will share

With a group of nearly 40 girls you can imagine the noise we made…this little boy must have belonged to someone from Green School and would sit under the table listing to our girls sing. He was adorable and endured everything from “Little Mermaid and Les Miserable’s to Justin Bieber ballads.

Ben and the only deacon in the Bali branch, mark my words, this boy will accomplish great things in his life. He has such incredible faith.